When three puppies wandered onto the property of an oil company in Romania, they had no idea there was tar everywhere and that it wasn’t safe for them to be there. Within seconds of trying to wade through it, the puppies were not only very stuck, but completely covered in the thick, sticky tar, according to thedodo.com.

Unable to escape on their own, all three puppies began crying out for help, and it wasn’t long before employees of the oil company heard them and rushed over to help them.

While it didn’t take too long to free them, the puppies were unfortunately still coated in tar, and their rescuers knew it would take a while to get them completely cleaned up.

They decided to reach out to local animal rescues to find someone who could help, and before long, rescuers with Barking Mad Dog Rescue were on their way.

After meeting the puppies at a local vet, rescuers with Barking Mad Dog Rescue and the veterinary assistants quickly got to work trying to get the thick tar off the puppies’ fur.

Despite how uncomfortable they were, the puppies were calm as their new friends bathed them, and seemed to understand that everyone there was trying to help them.

“This took a long time and several sessions,” Jess, a volunteer with Barking Mad Dog Rescue, told The Dodo. “Mihai and Marina, two veterinary assistants, worked long and hard and into the evening. They had to use petrol to remove the tar then bathe the pups carefully.”

Finally, after hours of work, the puppies were mostly clean again… and very eager to start playing and running around, just like normal little puppies.

“The pups were very hungry and ate several small meals throughout the process,” Jess said. “They are beautiful and lively puppies, just how they should be.”

After being checked over by a vet, the puppies were found to be otherwise healthy, and are around 2 and a half months old. Rescuers named them Jason, Jeremy and Jasmine.

They’ll be ready to head off to their forever homes when they’re about 4 months old, and until then, their rescuers are so excited to watch them grow.